Barcelona will be keen on protecting their lead against Atletico Madrid. Tata Martino and his boys shall not be easy on Valencia as they do not want to compromise their title bid campaign this season.

Match Date: 01 February 2014 (local time)
Venue: Estadio Camp Nou

Team Form

Barcelona

Unwilling to give Atletico Madrid the opportunity to steal the top spot, Barcelona thrashed Malaga with three (3) goals to nil.

While it is true that Lionel Messi did not score single goal, his key passes created scoring opportunities for his teammates such as Pedro and Alexis Sanchez. Messi’s (scoreless) night hardly bothered the club’s head honcho, Tata Martino. The latter stated that Messi can “do whatever he pleases.”

However, Martino also stressed that they could have scored more during their Getafe match. Martino’s seemingly disappointed stand about the 3-0 win is quite understandable though. The more goals they have, the higher will be their goal difference against their new title rival, Atletico Madrid.

Although Martino’s worries have their own merits and bearings, it can be seen that Barcelona’s strong form will less likely compromise their title bid this season. They have been successful in twenty-five (25) of their last home matches in the league. Such strength immediately dismisses them as the automatic winner during the encounter against Valencia.

Valencia

It seemed that the “Pizzi effect” was not totally felt during the Espanyol match. The expected win turned out to be an even steven finish during the final whistle. Espanyol’s Sergio Garcia converted the crucial penalty, which sent the club’s new head honcho, Pizzi, himself into an ocean of disappointment.

Pizzi knew how important the match was. They are expected to travel to Camp Nou and with the match being held in a different territory, their winning possibilities are lessened. Making matters even worse was their struggling form where they have only won once during their last six (6) matches. Three (3) of them ended in defeats while the remaining two were draws.

But of course, Barcelona shall never give Atletico Madrid the opportunity to steal the spotlight from them. However, they cannot be too nice to Valencia as they are also rallying for a victory and will most likely to score a crucial goal in the match.